Personal Been 2(00)3

On April 3, 2010, at 3:15pm, I turn exactly 30 years old.  This post is part of a very ambitious effort to share each of the last 10 years.  Thanks to Mike and his recap of the 2000's for the inspiration.

After the first few months of working full-time, things got a little rocky.  Truth be told, I was still grappling with the work ethic that comes with busy 40-hour weeks, and I was faltering.  I was fortunate enough to pull through, shining at an important moment for the company, though ultimately a large part of my job involved a task through which I just couldn't advance far enough: programming.  I was learning as I went, and though my coworker was a brilliant coder, it couldn't be her responsibility to work full-time AND bring me from Coding 101 to Master Class.  At the same time though, I was getting to use a dormant skill - project management - that I rather enjoyed.  Part organization, part communication, PM'ing seemed to fit.

It was around this same time I learned about the small graduate communications program offered at Ithaca College.  For some reason, through my four undergrad years, I had never known it existed.  (The programs total lack of exposure has been confirmed by a friend from the same undergrad program; she too had zero clue it ever existed.)  The program partially targeted working professionals; all classes started at 4pm or later.  So after some school and loan applications, by September I was back in school part-time.  And within a few weeks of some strange classes, questionable professors, and downright bizarre students, I was seriously questioning my decision.

If you're not living back home or enrolling immediately back in school, the year after graduating undergrad marks a major sea change.  The structures you took for granted are gone and it's up to you to figure everything out.  I saw a lot of friends graduate and fall victim to (I believe) unaddressed fears of loneliness.  They'd make overly safe choices and subsequently miss out on great opportunities.  One could make the argument that I had actually taken a safe and even lazy choice by staying around in my college town, which probably has some truth to it.  But for me that year, I worked, I went back to school, and spent a good portion of my time alone - on purpose.

Generally speaking, this was about all that was personally notable in 2003.  My dad remarried.  I had had to say goodbye to another round of friends who graduated that year (though my buddy Lauren was sticking around another 1.5 semesters, which was awesome).  That was about it.

On to 2004.

(Correction: Dad remarries the following year.)

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